 Logo of Nevada Public Radio | |
 Donald W. Reynolds Broadcast Center | |
| Type | Public Radio |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Headquarters | 1289 S. Torrey Pines Dr. Donald W. Reynolds Broadcast Center College of Southern Nevada Las Vegas, NV 89146 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | American Public Media,BBC World Service,National Public Radio |
| Ownership | |
Key people |
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| History | |
| Founded | March 24, 1980 (1980-03-24) by Lamar Marchese |
| Coverage | |
| Availability | Nevada, E. California, NW Arizona, SW Utah, and worldwide (online |
| Stations | |
| Transmitters |
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| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | knpr |
Nevada Public Radio is anon-profit, listener-supportedpublic radio network located inLas Vegas and serves all ofNevada. The network consists three stations,KNPR News (88.9 FM) andKCNV Classical (89.7 FM) both out of Las Vegas andKVNV (89.1 FM) out ofReno along with four additionalsimulcast stations and 11translators. The network airs digitally online, through apps, and throughHD Radio. It also publishes a city-regional magazine,Desert Companion, primarily focused onClark County and thedesert southwest, circulating 25,000 copies a month.
Nevada Public Radio was the state's firstNPRmember station, founded in 1975 as an organization with its first broadcast in 1980. In addition to national and international programming from NPR,American Public Media, thePublic Radio Exchange and theBBC, its studios produce original, local programming such as the current-eventsState of Nevada program andDesert Blooms, a weekly gardening program.
Beginning as a grass-roots, husband and wife operation based on the property ofSam Boyd Stadium, it now broadcasts from theDonald W. Reynolds Broadcast Center on theWest Charleston campus of theCollege of Southern Nevada.
In 1972, when Lamar Marchese, and his wife Patricia, moved to Las Vegas to work for local government, there was no public radio in Nevada. While Marchese worked for theClark County Library District and Patricia worked for the city of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs Department, the couple planned out the concept for Nevada Public Radio.[1]
In December 1975, Marchese became one of the founding incorporators of the Nevada Public Radio Corporation, anonprofit organization to raise funds and community awareness to create a local NPR member station.[1]
KNPR was the firstNPRmember station in Nevada. AlthoughKUNR in Reno signed on in 1963, it did not become a member of National Public Radio until 1981, a year after KNPR.[2]
The flagship station is KNPR, whichsigned on to 89.5 Mhz at 7,500 watts on March 24, 1980; 45 years ago (March 24, 1980). Marchese was the station's firstgeneral manager.[3] The station's original studio was 800 square feet (74 m2) of repurposedjanitorial storage inSilver Bowl Stadium. Casino magnateWilliam S. Boyd personally signed a $200,000 loan for the construction of studios for the new station, which moved into its new studio built on the stadium's property.[4]
In 1997, the network moved into the newly-built Donald W. Reynolds Broadcast Center on the West Charleston campus of the College of Southern Nevada, funded through a donation from Reynolds Foundation, after whom the building is named.[5]
During the late 1980s and 1990s, Nevada Public Radio expanded its reach beyond theLas Vegas Valley. The organization began to expand aggressively to extend public radio service to rural Nevada and adjacent states. It established a network of full-power repeater stations, including inTonopah (KTPH 91.7 FM),Panaca (KLNR 91.7 FM),Lund/Ely (KWPR 88.7 FM), andElko (KLKR 89.3 FM).
By the early 2000s, Nevada Public Radio, along with a trend among public radio stations across the country along with listener preferences, split its news and talk programming from its classical music programming among two separate radio frequencies.[6]
In response to those national trends Nevada public radio split into stations broadcasting from the same studio. On October 31, 2003, news and talk programming moved to 88.9 MHz while classical music moved to a newsister station,KCNV at 89.7 MHz. This followed six years of waiting for the FCC to approve the licensing applications.[6]
In 2004, the network joined a one-year agreement withKLAS-TV (Channel 8), the localCBS-affiliate, to co-produce local news. Their two websites were linked, and both covered the local, state, and2004 U.S. presidential election. Then vice president of KLAS Bob Stoldal explained the move, saying, "It provides another outlet for 'Channel 8 Eyewitness News' and helps KNPR with local news content that it otherwise could not afford to produce itself."[7] The agreement was not renewed.
In 2020, the network's senior producer andState of Nevada host Joe Schoenmann pioneered a new genre for radio—theextraterrestrialradio drama. Shoenmann directed Nevada Public Radio's firstradio play,Live from Area 51!, a play which aired on November 25. Featuring theLas Vegas Philharmonic, it recounts a story in which Shoenmann is the first-ever visitor granted access to nearbyArea 51.[8]
In 2021, Shoenmann followed up the previous drama with the production ofBeneath Area 51!, on October 26. In that radio drama, he and "Crazy Tom," a former physicist, meet an alien. The November 2020 broadcast was among the station's highest-rated show for the year.[9]
KNPR 88.9 FM primarily airs programs from NPR and other public radio networks, announced with news updates from the station's Briana Joseph. The weekday schedule includesMorning Edition,All Things Considered,Fresh Air,The Daily (The New York Times),Here and Now,1A,The World,On Point, andMarketplace. TheBBC World Service runs the overnight hours.
On weekends and weekday evenings, KNPR features one-hour specialty shows from various public radio networks, includingWeekend Edition,This American Life,Reveal,How I Built This,Hidden Brain,Sound Opinions,The Moth Radio Hour,Snap Judgment,Latino USA,Radiolab, andWait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
State of Nevada (SoN) is a weekday, hour-long, live broadcast topical news show hosted byJoe Schoenmann. Each hour long episode is typically themed regarding acurrent event issue in southern Nevada. Depending on the topic, the host either has experts, community leaders, or community members as guests. The show also takes callers to allow real-time conversation with listeners or gives them the chance to ask questions. Episodes cover topics from politics and government, business, arts and entertainment, and practical how-to's. The show first aired along with the network's KNPR/KCNV split in 2003, and was first hosted by regional journalist Gwen Castaldi until she retired in 2005.[10]
Desert Bloom is a weekly gardening show currently hosted by Angela O'Callaghan, social horticulture specialist at theUniversity of Nevada, Reno extension and retired professor Norm Shilling.[11]
KCNV 89.7 FM has a 24-hour classical music format, featuring nationally syndicated performances from organizations like theChicago Symphony Orchestra and theNew York Philharmonic. Specialty programs such as NPR'sFrom the Top, showcasing young classical musicians, andPipedreams, focused on organ music, are also part of the lineup. Weekend shows likeSunday Baroque, a program of Baroque-era music, also air.
Desert Companion is a city-regionalmagazine which originated from KNPR's annual print publication, theFall Cultural Guide. It was established as a standalone publication in 2007. Initially released quarterly, the magazine switched to a monthly format in 2011. The magazine focuses on service journalism, and covers topics such as culture, lifestyle, and community profiles in Southern Nevada. Each year, the magazine hosts the "Focus on Nevada" photo contest with awards given in these categories: artistic and abstract, city scenes, storyteller, the rurals, wild Nevada, light and shadow. A grand prize award is also given out. The awardees are judged by a panel of staff at the magazine, along with local artists and photographers. Typically, the grand prize comes with a gift of camera equipment from the local, partnering B&C Camera shop.
Founder Lamar Marchese served as the general manager from 1980 until 2007. Under his direction, the network grew from just five employees in 1980 to a major broadcast media outlet for Nevada and parts of the neighboringMountain West.[4]
Flo Rogers took over as CEO from Marchese, having first joined the network in 2001 as the director of programming. Rogers took over in 2007 and during her tenure established theDesert Companion magazine and the acquisition of the former community radio station She led the organization until 2019, when Rogers resigned amid financial difficulties.
Jerry Nadal, a former board chairman, stepped in as interim CEO and helped stabilize the station's finances.[12]
In 2022, Mark Vogelzang was appointed as President and CEO with experience working at other public radio stations.[13] Following Vogelzang's retirement in 2023, Favian Perez, who had been with the organization for ten years, was named Interim CEO and later became the permanent head of the organization.[14]
Nevada Public Radio operates a network of sevensimulcastFM radiostations and ninetranslators.
| Nevada Public Radio broadcasting infrastructure | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stations | Translators | ||||||
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | Call Sign | Frequency | City of License | FID |
| KNPR | 88.9 FM | Las Vegas | 79047 | K219LM | 91.7 FM | Lake Havasu City, AZ | 48355 |
| KLKR | 89.3 FM | Elko | 174342 | K201AD | 88.1 FM | China Lake | 49874 |
| KWPR | 88.7 FM | Lund/Ely | 90472 | K219AV | 91.7 FM | Beatty, NV | 49873 |
| KLNR | 91.7 FM | Panaca | 48350 | K208BB | 89.5 FM | Laughlin, NV | 48353 |
| KVNV | 89.1 FM | Sun Valley/Reno | 172600 | K201HX | 88.1 FM | Mesquite, NV | 48357 |
| KTPH | 91.7 FM | Tonopah | 48356 | K210ET | 89.9 FM | Moapa, NV | 48352 |
| Source: Nevada Public Radio[15] | K207CY | 89.3 FM | Round Mountain, NV | 92879 | |||
| K201BF | 88.1 FM | Scotty's Junction, NV | 49874 | ||||
